Mark Zuckerberg upgrades Facebook to metaverse

Facebook is planning to rebrand the company with a new name to focus on building the metaverse, according to a report by The Verge.  Metaverse is a virtual-reality space in which users can interact with a computer-generated environment and other users.

Metaverse is a broad term. Many science fiction books and films are set in fully-fledged metaverses – alternative digital worlds which are indistinguishable from the real physical world. But this is still the stuff of fiction. Currently, most virtual spaces look more like the inside of a video game than real life.

Sources have confirmed that Facebook is planning to hire 10,000 people in the European Union to develop a so-called metaverse. A metaverse is an online world where people can game, work and communicate in a virtual environment, often using VR headsets. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been a leading voice on the concept.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg will unveil its new name at the annual Connect conference on October 28, but it could announce the new name earlier, as reported by The Verge.

Facebook has the ambition to be known for more than social media announced  on Sunday.  It plans to recruit 10,000 jobs in Europe for the next five years to help build the metaverse the company sees as a key component of its future.

Facebook already has more than 10,000 employees who build consumer hardware like AR glasses that Zuckerberg believes will be as ubiquitous as smartphones.

In July, Zuckerberg said that Facebook’s future lies in the virtual metaverse, in which users will live, work and play inside.

The rebranding comes at a time when Facebook is facing criticism over a range of scandals, including a series of internal documents leaked by a whistleblower, Frances Haugen, who testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation. Facebook is still under antitrust scrutiny by the U.S. government.

“We don’t comment on rumour or speculation,” a Facebook spokesperson said.